On Flying the U.S. Gov't Flag Upside Down

Originally posted March 2008

I have read about the flags in the newspaper, and I have heard 2 sides of it, both from a man who is flying the flag upside down as a signal of distress, and protest concerning the way our country is heading, and on the other side, another veteran sees flying the flag upside down as a breach of the solidarity that we ought to have as a people, saying that, although it is a right to protest like that, the ideas that would drive a person to fly the flag upside down are at least to an extent, a betrayal of the armed forces and the country itself.

Both sides have legitimate points, but there is a little confusion about what they are talking about. to be fair, I think its important that both sides have some respect and recognize that the other side wouldn’t bother flying any flag if they didn’t care deeply for this country.

That being said, I think the confusion steams from two ideas concerning America, and even idea’s concerning loyalty, and what it is to be loyal. Lets start with the idea of America. There are two ideas as to what America is, the side that is flying the flag upside down, at least a faction of them, are those who see america, not as a political body, a constitution, an army, navy, or set of laws and IRS codes, but as a body of people, a special people unique in the world, with a pioneering spirit, rugged individualism, diversity, unity, an industrial work ethic made possible by an endeavor to increase the capital accumulation, and an almost universal respect for private property and individual liberties.

The other side, the side that says that anyone who would fly the flag upside down needs to rethink their ideas and what it means to be an American, those people may see all or some of the same characteristics as what makes up the idea of America, but America, is not just an idea to these people, it is a physical place, with territorial bounds, a capitol city, a leader, and a body of leaders. And these things, to those who rebuke the protesters, are superior in nature to those ideas. The official decrees of the government, and the government itself, and democracy and the political system in these United States, is what America is to those who say no one ought to fly the flag upside down.

And this is where both sides are speaking the truth. As I see it, to fly the flag upside down is to betray the government, it is a slap in the face of the current administration, and not only that but to a good many administrations going back as far as Hoover’s 1929-1933 administration, perhaps even farther, but certainly there has not been a real deviation as to the objective of the congresses and executive administrations from then until now. have aimed to increase their own power, to exercise control, to subjugate the people of America to their rule and dominion, And the only differences between one administration and the next is a simple question of who it is that has this power, and the approach they take in attaining it.

To fly the flag upside down is to betray the government, and the government as it has been for a long, long time. But those who betray the government, do so because they see that the government has betrayed those American ideas that I have talked about previously, and they have been deep in thought, and torn, and finally come to the conclusion that they must make a decision, and choose a side, either the government as it is now, or the ideas and beliefs that caused our forefathers to break their own political ties to England and become independent states, in oder to uphold the right to Life, Liberty, Property, and Peace.

And now, some of those who are flying the flag upside down, they find themselves in the same situation as our colonial forbearers. They have been loyal citizens, serving as elected and appointed officials, and fighting wars for their country, but in 1776 their nationalism was overcome by their loyalty to freedom and liberty, and that is when they broke ranks with the government, and decided, in each respective colony, to secede from their current government, and establish 13 independent states. Are we to that point yet in America, no I think only a fraction of the people think that it is that bad (Yet), but the flying of the flag upside down is an indication that the government has come to be more and more oppressive, and in opposition to property rights and individual liberty.

Those who object to the flag being flown upside down, they don’t see it that way of course, because they hold democracy, and America’s political process, and political freedom in higher regard than they do property rights and individual liberty, so that whatever the law, whether it be the amount of taxes we are required to pay, business regulations, or laws restricting the ownership of guns as property, they say that the law must be respected, and it is indeed “right” because it is based on a democratic process.

In the end both sides are loyal, one to America, the other to the American government. I myself hold that the U.S. government is one of the lest oppressive governments to be found on the face of the earth, but I am not thankful for the U.S. government. All the rights we have here are not granted by the U.S. government, or even by the constitution, but as Thomas Jefferson said, they are God Given, and inalienable. The rights were there all along, but governments of the past, the crown, and the United States, have and are trampling those rights. The man living in 17th century England has just as much right to free speech as we do, but the government violated that right, Roman slaves in the 1st century had every much the same right to be free as Americans after the 13th amendment in America, but Rome violated that right. And though now the United States continues to be the least oppressive government, they are oppressive nonetheless, and becoming more so, to a greater or lesser increment since the early 1900’s. And so while I might be sympathetic to these United States in comparison to other governments, I am not a supporter. I am loyal to the ideas of individual liberty and property rights before, and even when they are at odds with the government of the U.S.

I however don’t fly my flag upside down, only because the message is mistook by the other side as being anti American, when in fact I am pro American and anti U.S. government. And it is a fact that Obama will not, and has not changed the overall course that America has gone down for the last century. I have no flag to fly at all. there is no image that represents liberty, untainted by the oppression of the current government. But I pray that the government will turn for the better, for liberty, I pray that the people will not be be oppressed but be free. I am pro American.